Hailing from Japan’s north island of Hokkaido, snowboard pro Kohei Kudo grew up with easy access to some of the world’s best powder terrain, right there in his own backyard. Not surprisingly, this high-energy kid developed an addiction to powder at an early age. At the same time he began fueling his love for airtime and steep landings by riding halfpipe as much as possible at his home resort Tomamu. With innate natural ability and a go-for-broke approach to riding transition, Kohei showed promise almost immediately. Guided by his riding mentors - the fabled Seven Samurai crew - Kohei also began competing and filming early on. In 2010 his riding hit the world stage when he represented Japan in halfpipe at the Vancouver Olympics (top 15 o/a). The following season Kohei started breaking into the top ten in international competitions like Grand Prix and TTR World Tour events. That year he also took home his first Global Series win, claiming the crown at the Burton Canadian Open. In 2012, Kohei continued to battle it out in pipes all over the world, including the prestigious U.S. Open Snowboarding Championships. An explosive and exciting rider to watch, combine his skill set and it becomes pretty obvious that Kohei won’t just go big; he’ll also go far.